Q&A: Livespins on the future of social play

In this brave new world, one doesn’t merely play their favourite video game. That would be silly. Instead, they watch their new hero and heroine streamers play the game they could feasibly switch on for themselves. This may seem strange, but in reality it isn’t. Millions of football fans pay for tickets up and down the country each weekend, when they could just as easily put a couple of jumpers down as goalposts and have a kickabout. The same logic resides in the streaming phenomenon.

Livespins, and CCO Michael Pedersen, are looking to recreate this fever in the world of casino. Casino streamers have been on the rise and the Livespins product taps into this to bring what Pedersen describes as a “new business model” to the market.

With three licences already secured and strong showing in beta testing so far, Pedersen explains where the brand can go from here and what the future holds

EGR Technology: Can you explain in more detail about the Livespins product and where the thought process came from?

Michael Pedersen (MP): This all started with HappyHour.io which was founded by Robin Reed and a number of others. They are an accelerator fund targeting the industry and one of the companies coming out of that fund is Livespins.

We are a completely separate entity with separate teams, fundings and tech stack but part of a larger HappyHour family. I’ve always thought the casino experience needs to modernise and keep up with what is happening outside of the industry.

This product was built with the mindset that casino needs to be modernised. We have been battling with the idea of can casino be more social for more than a decade? When social media took off, everyone just put Facebook’s sharing button option which people didn’t use.

I think we are now finally getting to a place where there are enough tools out there that suddenly you can connect with a community. The product is currently live in closed beta on our in-house brand and we are set to onboard our first external operators in Q2 2022.

EGR Technology: Do you think there has always been a desire from consumers to make casino social or has this ramped up in recent years?

MP: I think the likes of Twitch has had a huge impact on showing people that is possible to create a community around casino gaming and playing slots. Like I said, we have been battling with this for 10 years and we have never really cracked the code until now.

I think the growth of the creator economy has shown it is one barrier down for the industry and that it is possible to develop this space.

EGR Technology: From a tech perspective, how does the product work and is it built in-house?

MP: The tech stack is entirely built in-house from scratch, but we onboarded games from the development studios. Through our engine, our streamers play the games and we then broadcast this to the operator’s sites as a video stream, allowing players to bet behind the streamer as a group.

It is an interesting one as game studios today pay streamers on Twitch to show their content but instead we are paying the game providers by giving them a royalty to use their IP. We are effectively bringing a new business model to the market.

EGR Technology: How does Livespins’ relationship work with the streamers it uses on the platform?

MP: The streamers are either employees or contracted to Livespins. We see it as taking the game show element of hosts from live casino firms and the affiliate streamer from Twitch and we are trying to make the best of both parts to create Livespins.

We are after authenticity that we think consumers have reacted positively to on Twitch. We want to retain those elements from Twitch but leave behind less sustainable behaviours that we often see from some affiliate streamers.. We are taking the professionalism of the live dealer and mixing it with the best of the Twitch streamer.

EGR Technology: How much traction is the site seeing at the moment in terms of number of users and wagers?

MP: Really good but maybe too good. We are obviously in the honeymoon statistics at the moment. On the in-house brands we are pushing it like crazy, so we are taking it with a pinch of salt. But even with a pinch of salt, we can see the social element make the session time much longer instead of a solo session.

We are also seeing players being exposed to far more titles than they usually would. The typical casino user might play the same five to eight slots but with Livespins they are engaging with far more titles.

A game title will also often have an uptick in solo sessions after the social sessions.

EGR Technology: What does the typical Livespins customer look like and what target demographic are you targeting?

MP: I think Livespins has the potential to be the first mass market social product for the industry. I think we appeal to both men and women and across all age brackets.

The female audience will like Livespins because of the bingo and social feeling about playing together. I think the social aspect will really appeal to the female segment. What we are also doing is allowing the community to choose what title the streamer will play next.

In terms of age groups, Millennials who have grown up with connected computer games and likely to engage with Livespins are now 30 to 40 years old and a very valuable player segment for both operators and providers. Outside of the industry, these players are increasingly being served social digital entertainment by the likes of Apple, Disney+ etc. We strongly believe the industry needs to start paying serious attention to this trend or risk becoming irrelevant. It is like sticking your head in the sand.

EGR Technology: Why did you decide to move from an established operator in the shape of PokerStars to join a start-up?

MP: I was with PokerStars when it was acquired by Flutter and the company restructuring meant my role was effectively redundant. I decided to take a break with my family and then Robin approached me to show me the product and I was sold immediately; it was a very natural fit.

I think Livespins is a place I can add value and it was a no-brainer for me.

EGR Technology: What help does the HappyHour investment vehicle provide and how much of a boost is it to have this vote of confidence?

MP: The way it works is a hybrid. Today, HappyHour.io is still the shareholder of Livespins but we are in the process of standing on our own feet. We are in the process of raising funds specifically for Livespins and then HappyHour will become just one shareholder among others.

We are planning to use the funds to help our hyper-scale growth. We are applying for licences in the Isle of Man, New Jersey and Malta. We also need to increase streamer headcount and improve product quality too.

EGR Technology: Hopes and expectations for Livespins over the next 12 to 24 months?

MP: In Q2 2022 we will onboard our first external operators. Although we are in a hurry, it is also super important to keep our promises and that the core experience works. We would rather under promise and then over deliver. We will be cautious in Q2 before really ramping up in H2.

I think Livespins has first-mover advantage in the space. We are carving out a new vertical and we want to establish ourselves firmly as a recognised leader.